


maid of glass

by laikaspeaks



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, mirror au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 18:18:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11167407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laikaspeaks/pseuds/laikaspeaks
Summary: Samhain is when the world of the spirits draws close to our own, as Diana discovers when she runs across a unique spirit the night before the school festival.





	maid of glass

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [mirror au](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/298509) by blookity-bloke. 



“We need a few more things from the storeroom.” Hannah said, flicking through the list Diana wrote up for her and Barbara. Her gaze flicked over Diana’s subtly tense shoulders, asking far more than the words implied. “Can you handle everything until we get back?” _Will you be okay until we get back?_

The redhead was hardly a saint, but at the very least she always looked after Diana.

“I’ll be fine for a bit, but do hurry. I have another meeting directly after this.” With Akko and her friends. Diana could already feel the headache coming on. “Please be sure to split the duties evenly.” _Do them separately and don’t make out in the supply closet instead._

Barbara had the grace to look sheepish at the meaningful look they both threw her way. “We’ll be back as soon as possible, Diana.”

Diana let out a sigh as they left the room. There was so much to be done that even she dearly wished she could go back to their room and bury her face in her pillow until the festival was over. She went back to sorting through the supplies they would need, absently heading toward the door when she heard a faint knocking noise from the tree-shaped mirror she chose for the festivities.

“Did the fairy powder not work?” She asked no one in particular. The odds were low, but fairy powder was sometimes cut with lesser magical substances. Diana went over the options almost out of habit - pixie dust, powdered dragonfly wings charged under the full moon, glamoured drug store glitter...

Diana peered at the glass, tapping her pen to her lips in thought. It did look a touch too cloudy, some grey mist clinging stubbornly to the depths of its reflection.

Heavy black mist roiled in from the sides of the mirror, and that was her only warning before a hand burst from the depths and grabbed at the collar of her uniform. She caught a flash of a human face - dark, angry eyes and a mouth in a furious snarl.

If there was one instinct that drove her above all others, it roared inside her now: protect.

Faster than thought her hand wrapped around a cool, slim wrist, and little orbs of blue light swirled where flesh touched flesh. They solidified into a glowing manacle and chain, and Diana had just enough time to feel smug before her head cracked against the stone floor.

Diana was stunned for a moment, but only a moment.

She threw an elbow and earned a squeak of pain, then her enemy redoubled their efforts. Knees settled on her forearms, pinning them at her sides so that she could only struggle and spit useless curses. Her wand sparked weakly on the floor several feet away, unable to answer her anger.

The figure above her was Akko, if the girl were capable of an expression like an impatient teacher. Her captor gestured at the gently glowing manacle on her arm. “What is this?”

“It’s a binding spell. You won’t be able to get far without me finding you first.”

The girl stared down at her with open irritation. “Of course someone like you would have that spell on speed-dial.”

“It seems like that’s appropriate, considering you attacked me.”

“Hey! Attack is a strong word.” This mirror-Akko shuffled off of Diana and leaned back on her hands, watching Diana with eerie intensity. “I just needed to borrow some of your magic for a bit.”

 _“Borrow.”_ Diana pushed the apparition off of her and sat up, dusting herself off in part because this wing of the castle hadn’t been cleaned for a generation, and in part to cover up her growing disquiet.

“It just comes back doesn’t it? You wouldn’t miss a little.”

“Only a fool would willingly give magic to an apparition.” Diana glared with all the force she could muster. It looked like a girl but that almost guaranteed that it was not. And when it came to anything capable of communicating like a person, mistakes could be deadly.

“Which is why I didn’t ask you, genius.” Those brown eyes were too familiar and too strange because Akko didn’t have that much disdain in her entire body.

“What _are_ you? And why are you - you - why do you look like -”

She actually looked thoughtful for a moment, tilting her head one way. “I’m her,” then she tilted her head to the other side, “I’m also not.”

“That’s not an answer.”

She shrugged and crossed her arms, a sulky expression crossing her face, “Do I look like I know everything about magic? You don’t know everything either, bright spark.”

How dare she be so rude when she could barely cast basic spells? “I certainly know more than you, you -”

Diana cut the words off so quickly she could feel her teeth clack together. The reflection was shaking with silent laughter. The girl lifted her chin, meeting Diana’s eyes. “You’re so arrogant. Didn’t you say you don’t know either?”

Diana felt her face heat further, realizing she had responded as if this were Akko. She couldn’t help it, the girl looked exactly the same. Her body language, the rise and fall of her voice. Yet there was something sharp in her eyes, like a stranger peering out of Akko’s face. This was Akko’s fire burned down to resentful embers.

“Call me Atsuko.”

“What?”

“You look like your brains are about to come out of your ears, smartypants.” Akko - Atsuko - patted Diana on the head as she passed, a smile in her voice that sounded like mischief. She dipped to scoop something off the floor, then sauntered toward the door with the grace of a predator. “Don’t think on it too hard, huh?”

Diana scrambled after Atsuko, stumbling to her feet just in time to snatch at the apparition’s hand. “Stop! Come back here!”

A snicker came from everywhere and nowhere. “Catch me if you can!”

Diana felt a sinking feeling, unlike she ever experienced in her life. No matter where she looked, she couldn't see her wand.

**Author's Note:**

> I finished this at 2am and there was no editing. Rest in pieces grammar fans!


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